Scores and Schedule: March 23, 2013

Most high school games went off yesterday. Anybody trying to make the D-1 men’s doubleheader this afternoon?

Yesterday’s Results

Division-1 Women

Detroit 13, Coastal Carolina 14

Division-3 Men

Calvin 5, Wheaton 11

Division-3 Women

Hope 1, Denison 17

MCLA-1

Central Michigan 17, St. Cloud State 10

MCLA-2

Grand Valley State 3, St. John’s (Minn.) 7
Siena Heights 7, John Carroll 6
Northwood 6, Taylor 5

High School Boys

Okemos 10, Bloomfield Hills 5
Lansing Waverly 9, Chelsea 1
Detroit Country Day 14, Grosse Pointe South 1
Comstock Park @ East Grand Rapids – canceled
Walled Lake Northern 15, Farmington 9
Forest Hills Central 15, Mishawaka (Ind.) Penn 2
Portage Central @ Holland Christian
Ann Arbor Huron @ Hartland
South Lyon 16, Howell 7
East Lansing @ Holland West Ottawa
Auburn Hills Avondale @ L’Anse Creuse
Battle Creek Harper Creek @ Portage Northern
Rockford 13, South Bend (Ind.) St Joseph 11
Romeo 16, Utica Stevenson 3
Walled Lake Western, Waterford 3

High School Girls

Brighton @ Forest Hills United
Grand Blanc @ East Lansing
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard @ Livonia Ladywood
Salem @ Farmington Hills Harrison
Walled Lake United @ Northville
Mattawan United @ Northview
Midland-HH Dow @ Flint Powers Catholic
Lansing Waverly @ Rockford
Farmington Hills Mercy @ Ann Arbor Skyline
Grosse Pointe South @ Troy

Today’s Schedule

Division-1 Men

Detroit v. VMI, noon (Titan Field) – Preview and game information
Michigan v. Loyola, 3 p.m. (Michigan Stadium) – Preview and game information

Division-3 Men

Adrian v. Brockport
Hope @ Carthage, 1 p.m. Central
Olivet @ Beloit

Division-3 Women

Albion v. DePauw
Adrian v. Denison
Olivet @ Baldwin-Wallace
Calvin @ St. Vincent

MCLA-1

Central Michigan @ Indiana, 5 p.m. Central (Naperville, Ill.)
Michigan State v. Buffalo, noon

MCLA-2

Michigan-Dearborn @ Wheaton, noon Central
Ferris State @ Lawrence Tech, 2 p.m. (Bishop Foley High School, Madison Heights, Mich.)
Northwood v. John Carroll, 4 p.m.
Aquinas @ Butler, 6 p.m.

High School Boys

Forest Hills Eastern @ Ann Arbor Skyline
Ionia @ Caledonia
Reeths Puffer @ Caledonia
Forest Hills Northern v. South Bend (Ind.) St. Joseph
Warren De La Salle @ Grosse Pointe North
Mattawan @ Grand Haven
Davison @ Grand Blanc
Vicksburg @ Grand Rapids Catholic Central
Saline @ Holt
Rochester Hills Stoney Creek @ Midland
Troy @ Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
Detroit Catholic Central @ Northville
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard @ Orchard Lake St. Mary’s
Swartz Creek @ Oxford
North-Harrison @ Plymouth
Grand Rapids Christian @ Portage Northern
Rockford v. Mishawaka (Ind.) Penn
Ionia v. Reeths-Puffer
Hudsonville @ Spring Lake
Howell @ Salem
Bay City Western @ St. Clair United
Clarkston @ Utica Eisenhower
Petoskey @ Walled Lake Central
Saginaw Heritage @ Walled Lake Western

High School Girls

Rockford @ Ann Arbor Pioneer
Kalamazoo Central @ DeWitt
Holt @ East GRand Rapids
Farmington Hills Harrison @ Grosse Pointe North
Waterford United @ Lake Orion
Tecumseh @ Lowell
Saline @ Walled Lake United
Warren Regina @ Walled Lake United

Corrections, omissions, etc. always appreciated in the comments.

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Michigan Preview: Loyola

Loyola hasn’t been nearly up to last year’s standard (duh – the Hounds lost one game the entirety of 2012), but this is still a really good lacrosse team. Given that one of the best players in Loyola’s program returned to action this week, they should play even better than the season-long results to date.

Loyola

Loyola Greyhounds Lacrosse

Fear the Greyhound!

3:00 p.m. EST
March 23, 2013
Michigan Stadium – Ticket information.
Michigan weekly release.
Loyola release. Loyola game notes.
Live Stats. Live video ($).

Tempo-Free Profile

With TempoFreeLax.com fully up to date, the numbers shown here are adjusted for the strength of schedule (Loyola has played the nation’s No. 24 toughest schedule to date, well above-average).

Colgate 2013
Pace 64.63 (34)
Poss% 53.14 (6)
Off. Eff. 35.23 (13)
Def. Eff. 26.96 (17)
Pyth% 77.21 (10)

Loyola was annoyingly slow last year, but outstanding in just about every respect. They’ve sped things up a bit this year, but aren’t quite as great in the other respects.

The Greyhounds have a pretty good faceoff unit and a below-average ride, but what has helped them crush possession percentage is an outstanding clear – they’re converting 91.88% of attempts.

They’re very good on both ends of the field, with an exceptional offense (no surprise with the talent they have there) and a defense that is not far off. Neither of those units is anywhere near last year’s unreal units.

Let’s take a closer look at the personnel and what makes this team go.

Offense

Junior attack Justin Ward was the third banana in last year’s efficient offense, behind Mike Sawyer and Eric Lusby. This year, Lusby’s no longer around and Sawyer has missed a couple games, and Ward has taken over this team. He has 19 goals and 20 assists for a very balanced output.

Sophomore attack Niko Pontrello is behind him with 10 goals and 12 assists, and then there’s a slight gap before senior midfielder Chris Layne (10 goals and six assists) and Sawyer, a senior attackman who is the true finisher with 13 shots and two assists. Sawyer’s production (which, if it’s like last year’s, is mostly on 10-yard rockets) would be slightly higher if he hadn’t missed a couple games to date.

Senior midfielders Sean O’Sullivan and Davis Butts have nine point’s apiece, with O’Sullivan’s all on finishes, and Butts’s slanted toward assists. Junior midfielder Pat Laconi has eight on four and four.

Defense

Though the offense had the star power last year, the defense was actually the (slightly) better unit.

Unfortunately, many of its starters (Dylan Grimm is the only key loss among them) return. Senior LSM Scott Ratliff is the team’s leader in caused turnovers and ground balls, though he’s not credited with any starts (Sophomore Pat Frazier has earned the nod most of the time). Senior Reid Acton and junior Joe Fletcher are returning starters. The third spot has seen a few players get a chance, including senior T.J. Harris.

The short-stick midfield situation is an interesting one – and probably not in a good way for Michigan. Senior Josh Hawkins is considered one of the nation’s best, and he sat out every game this year… until Wednesday’s win over Georgetown. In addition to his ability to shut down offensive midfielders, he has the ability to quickly turn defense into offense for the Hounds. He’ll be a big issue for Michigan to deal with.

The goalkeeper is junior Jack Runkel, a returning starter. Considering how good the Loyola defense is overall, his numbers really aren’t very good. He’s saving only .500 of shots faced. However, he’s seeing very few shots this year, so that partially explains things.

Special Teams

Loyola is a pretty good faceoff team, but I’m of the opinion – and the Colgate game didn’t dissuade me of it – that Michigan is rounding into form as a pretty good one itself. I think a stalemate between Blake Burkhart (.525) or Brendan Donovan (.500) is fair, with maybe a slight advantage to Michigan. On the other hand, Michigan went with a pole on faceoffs last year against the Hounds, and could concede to play defense once more.

As mentioned above, Loyola doesn’t put a lot of effort into the ride. Opponents have been more than willing to still turn it over on 12.68% of attempts anyway. Michigan has been inconsistent on the clear, so that’s a battle to watch. Loyola’s clear is excellent, and it’s probably not worth the inevitable transition goals for Michigan to ride heavily.

I expect a pretty clean game, but it’s worth noting that Loyola’s EMO is outstanding while the man-down defense is pretty lockdown.

Big Picture

Michigan played Loyola closer than expected last year, and that was a better Greyhounds team than this year’s edition (and a worse Michigan team). This probably isn’t one that Michigan has the horses to keep close through the fourth quarter, much less be in position to steal a win.

I’ve reiterated time and again that there are no moral victories for the Wolverines this year, but staying competitive and looking for positive signs to take into the next few games is probably a more realistic aim than getting a win.

Predictions

Without further ado, a few things I expect…

  • Approximate break-even on faceoffs. However, if things don’t go well early and the Hounds get a transition opportunity or two, look for Charlie Keady to take some draws. Michigan will rely on him to muck things up and not give up fast-break opportunities.
  • Michigan’s bugaboo this year has been a team with a really good attackman or two. Loyola has four. The Wolverines will give up a couple really easy looks, leaving Gerald Logan out to dry.
  • That said, Logan will also save a few that he shouldn’t, to still have a decent day statistically. Loyola’s snipers can only be stopped so often, especially with the looks the U-M defense will give them, but Logan will be up to the task as much as possible.
  • With Hawkins back for Loyola, Michigan’s freshman midfielders should struggle bigtime. Whether that’s Mike Hernandez turning it over (as we’ve seen him do this year) or Kyle Jackson ripping shots that have little chance of scoring (ditto), that will be a weakness.
  • With the midfielders minimized, an attackman will lead the team in scoring – I’m thinking a fully healthy Will Meter has a good chance, though leading U-M in this one might mean two goals and an assist.

Although the Wolverines have made progress this season, this is one of the toughest tests to date. The psychological boost provided by the first game in Michigan Stadium this year is an x-factor, but that can only mean so much. Loyola gets the 16-7 win.

Share your predictions, discussion, etc. in the comments.

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Detroit Preview: VMI

So this is when the Titans will get their first win of the year. After a long break leading up to last week’s game against Marist, they seemed to play much better than they had been, and VMI is far and away the worst team in the country.

VMI

Virginia Military Institute Keydets Lacrosse

The VMI team name is the Keydets, a Southern style slang for the word “cadets”.

Noon EST
March 23, 2013
Titan Field
Live stats.
Ticket information.
Detroit pregame notes. Gameday Central.
VMI pregame notes have not been published yet; I’ll update when they’re available.

Tempo-Free Profile

With Tempo-Free Lax.com fully up to date, the numbers shown here are adjusted for the strength of schedule (VMI has played the nation’s No. 58 toughest schedule to date – pretty much the only way it could be worse is if they played themselves).

VMI 2013
Pace 75.43 (3)
Poss% 46.21 (60)
Off. Eff. 17.03 (63)
Def. Eff. 41.02 (62)
Pyth% 3.93! (63)

VMI is not just the worst lacrosse team this season. There’s a damn good chance that the Keydets are the worst Division-1 team ever. They certainly are in the era for which TFL data is populated (though Mercer 2011 is giving them a bit of a run).

Whereas VMI had been really bad on offense and on defense in the past several years, at least Stephen Robarge was a fairly dominant faceoff specialist to soften the blow a bit. With him out the door, they’re one of the worst possession teams in the country.

They’re also one of the worst defenses in the country, to go along with the worst offense (just behind… Detroit!). The only thing that is compelling about the Keydets is their pace. They play fast because possessions are ending in VMI turnovers or opponent goals in short order, making for a whole lot of faceoffs and action.

Offense

VMI’s offense is downright moribund, but thanks to their pace of play, we have some indication about who their offensive threats are based on scoring totals. There are two of them.

Senior attackman Russell East leads the team with 14 goals and two assists. Junior linemate Bernie Mowbray has 11 points on seven goals and four assists. They are far and away your scoring leaders.

Behind them is a trio of players with six points. Sophomore attack Eric Groleau is the team leader with five assists, and he’s contributed just one goal: he’s your distributor. Sophomore attack Mike DeBlasio and junior attack/mid Alex Henthorn both have five goals and one assist.

Clearly, this is an offense that doesn’t feature a lot of passing to do its scoring, with assists on just .442 of its (very few) goals. This offense, like the rest of the team, isn’t having a lot of success so far this year. All except East and Groleau have double-digit turnovers on the season. Expect the Titans to get back on their pressure game in this one.

Defense

Junior Rory Dillon is the only defensive player (aside from goalie Matt Lindemann) who has started every game. Sophomore LSM/D Tyler Prasnicki has played – and started – in six of them, so he’ll be a started as well. Senior LSM/D Taylor Jenkins has played in all seven and started six, so it’s fair to assume he’ll be a starter, as well.

Prasnicki is far and away the team’s leader in caused turnovers  so he’s your dangerman there (of course, that could be inflated by faceoff wing play). All are about even in ground balls, which I guess can be a blessing and a curse.

Lindemann has played all but one quarter of the season, and given the utter ineptitude of the VMI defense as a whole, his numbers aren’t that bad. He’s saving .500 of shots faced. and giving up 15.11 goals per game (that’s not as bad as teammate Scottie Hayman, whose limited sample size gives him a GAA of 75.79). Lindemann appears to be a poor man’s Gerald Logan: a good goalie behind a poor defense. Of course in this instance, the defense is even worse, and the goalie likely is, as well.

Special Teams

Think VMI misses Stephen Robarge? He was winning around 2/3 of his faceoffs in 2010-2012, and now… VMI has regressed to one of the country’s worst units in that department. Sophomore Gaston Ledford has been the primary specialist, taking almost exactly five times as many draws as classmate Luke Frizzell. They’re dead even, winning .464-ish of attempts.

VMI is the worst clearing team in the country, and one of the bottom four in riding, as well. The latter can be explained by strategy (trying to limit the number of shots pelting Lindemann), but the former can be nothing other than a deficiency.

One thing VMI does well (or should I say the thing VMI does well) is commit fewer penalties than opponents. They convert at a reasonable clip on the EMO, above 1/3, but opponents cash in nearly half the time, so that’s a really poor man-down defense (though I guess in the grand scheme, it’s only a little worse than their even-strength D).

Big Picture

Just win, baby. This is one of two games over the rest of the year (Manhattan in two weeks is the other) that the TFL numbers see the Titans winning. 0-6 isn’t fun, but 0-7 with a loss to the worst team in the country is worse. And it also means you get to take their mantle as worst.

If the Titans somehow manage not to win this one… well, let’s not worry about that right now.

Predictions

Detroit is bad. VMI is baaaaaaaaaaad. The UDM has advantages in just about every metric, so this is the perfect antidote for struggles.

  • Detroit dominates on faceoffs. Though the Titans have been inconsistent, VMI has been bad. Add in one of the few opportunities to guarantee better wing play, and you have yourself a distinct advantage.
  • The Detroit offense sets a new season high in offensive efficiency (previously 31.25 against Quinnipiac). Even without Shayne Adams, there are just matchup problems all over the field for a bad VMI defense.
  • The Titans get back to their old ways on caused turnovers. The Titans have dipped to forcing a TO on 21.72% of opponent possessions this year. That’s a huge drop from last year’s 27.53%. Look for around 30% against this team – though VMI’s unforced turnovers might deflate that number, too.
  • VMI gets a couple soft-ish goals early and makes things look scary. The Keydets also score at least once on the EMO.

I think I’ve made my expectations clear in this one, no? While Detroit’s struggles have been really frustrating, they’re nothing compared to a team that is one of the country’s worst in just about every metric (and certainly when you take them as a whole). Of course, an equally bad VMI team upset a much better Detroit team last spring, so you never know…

It’s close early, but the Titans finally earn their first win, 14-6.

Share your predictions, discussion, etc. in the comments.

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Scores and Schedule: March 22, 2013

Lots of cancellations yesterday…

Yesterday’s Results

Division-3 Men

Hope @ MSoE – canceled

High School Boys

Vicksburg @ Battle Creek Harper Creek
Warren Mott @ Madison Heights Bishop Foley
Lake Orion @ Brother Rice Orange
Brighton @ Detroit Catholic Central
Grand Rapids South Christian @ Caledonia
Birmingham Seaholm @ Canton
Zeeland @ Grand Haven
Swartz Creek @ Grand Blanc
Haslett-Williamston v. Mattawan
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer @ Northview
Salem @ Orchard Lake St. Mary’s
West Bloomfield @ Plymouth
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep @ Rochester Adams
Davison @ Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
North-Harrison @ Troy Athens
L’Anse Creuse North @ Troy
Grosse Pointe North @ Warren Cousino

High School Girls

Lansing Waverly @ East Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids Catholic Central @ Williamston-Haslett
Detroit Country Day @ Farmington Hills Harrison
Swartz Creek @ Flint Powers
Bloomfield Hills Marian @ South Lyon United

Today’s Schedule

Division-1 Women

Detroit @ Coastal Carolina, 3 p.m. (Conway, S.C.)

Division-3 Men

Calvin @ Wheaton

Division-3 Women

Hope @ Denison

MCLA-1

Central Michigan @ St. Cloud State, 8 p.m. (Naperville, Ill.)

MCLA-2

Grand Valley State @ St. John’s (Minn.), 6 p.m. Central (Northbrook, Ill.)
Siena Heights v. John Carroll, 8 p.m.

High School Boys

Okemos @ Bloomfield Hills
Lansing Waverly @ Chelsea
Grosse Pointe South @ Detroit Country Day
Comstock Park @ East Grand Rapids
Walled Lake Northern @ Farmington
Mishawaka (Ind.) Penn @ Forest Hills Central
Portage Central @ Holland Christian
Ann Arbor Huron @ Hartland
South Lyon @ Howell
East Lansing @ Holland West Ottawa
Auburn Hills Avondale @ L’Anse Creuse
Battle Creek Harper Creek @ Portage Northern
South Bend (Ind.) St Joseph @ Rockford
Romeo @ Utica Stevenson
Waterford @ Walled Lake Western

High School Girls

Brighton @ Forest Hills United
Grand Blanc @ East Lansing
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard @ Livonia Ladywood
Salem @ Farmington Hills Harrison
Walled Lake United @ Northville
Mattawan United @ Northview
Midland-HH Dow @ Flint Powers Catholic
Lansing Waverly @ Rockford
Farmington Hills Mercy @ Ann Arbor Skyline
Grosse Pointe South @ Troy

Corrections, omissions, etc. always appreciated in the comments.

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Youth Movement

The trajectory of Michigan’s season seems to be firmly in the upward direction. That’s a good thing (duh), and it’s happening on the backs of several young players. Due to a variety of reasons – among them injuries to upperclassmen – freshmen are making a huge impact on the 2013 Wolverines.

The roles are increasing over the course of the year, too. Several freshmen missing the first game of the year (and a couple more sitting out the High Point game) is part of that, but the simple acclimation to the college game through eight contests so far is allowing them to play big roles for the team, as well. TempoFreeLax.com doesn’t (yet) have an overall player rating or usage metric (one is in the works for both).

However, I’ve put together a simple metric that measures total usage (blue) and net positive usage (yellow) per possession. Let’s take a look at some of U-M’s freshmen who have played the most…

Gerald Logan

Gerald Logan

Logan has seen a lot of action, and performed very well.

Obviously, Logan has been the most visible of the U-M freshmen. He’s started every game, and has only missed time when he got injured late in the game against Bellarmine. His total usage is, for the most part, a function of the defense in front of him. Saves and ground balls count positively, goals against and turnovers are negatives (don’t worry too much about the “positives” and “negatives,” it’s not really the point of this exercise, especially for the goalie and faceoff specialists). One thing it is crazy to note is that a goalie who’s getting shelled game after game has been positive every contest, except against Hopkins.

Brad Lott

Brad Lott

Apologies for the tooltip in the middle of the chart.

A faceoff win counts as a positive, a loss as a negative (with a ground ball or caused turnover serving as an additional positive, a turnover an additional negative), so a true FOGO is one type of player whose overall form will be best captured by the exercise. The yellow line staying above zero is the goal, and obviously the higher the better, but you get a good indication of his performances.

Fortunately, outside of the two games Lott has missed, you can see a pretty clear upward trend in his form on the year.

Kyle Jackson

Kyle Jackson

Jackson has dominated Michigan’s offense, and has kept turnovers out of his game. Again with the toooltip.

Jackson has started every game, and is Michigan’s leading scorer. It stands to reason that he’d have very high usage, and a very high net mark. One thing that’s interesting to note with him is a complete lack of negative plays (the closer the lines, the better the performance). Outside of a two-turnover game against Fairfield in Michigan’s slowest game of the year, he’s been a remarkably efficient player.

For the sake of this exercise, shots and shots on goal were positives, so you can see why I’m saying not to put too much stock into the positive/negative divide. Missing the cage a lot is a good thing for this primitive breakdown.

Mike Hernandez

Mike Hernandez

“High Point” is the opponent, not a description of the graph (sorry).

Hernandez is an interesting case, and one for whom the debate about whether taking shots that miss the cage (or those that hit the keeper) should be considered a positive. If they’re negative, his usage remains the same but net drops way down. He’s also one of the most turnover-prone players on Michigan’s team, though that’s partially because of his high usage when he’s been in the lineup – except in the High Point game, when most of them were due to bone-headed decisions.

Since sitting out the first game, Hernandez’s usage has been steadily climbing. He has, as you can see, been one of the players with the biggest gap between total usage and net usage, though some of his performances indicate that can be cleaned up with more experience.

David Joseph

David Joseph

Up, up, and up.

Joseph is an interesting case here. He’s the only redshirt freshman in the bunch, so you’d expect his learning curve and usage, etc. to be a bit more steady than the rest we’re looking at. However, that’s not the case. He’s steadily increasing in role, and his performances have justified that increase.

He’s been playing all year, but the little midfielder/attackman has been not only more used, but more efficient as the season has gone on. The Fairfield and Colgate games may be slightly skewed by taking a ton of shots (and not scoring a whole lot), but he’s one player that is showing growth over the course of the season more than any other.

Peter Kraus

Peter Kraus

Kraus has climbed, though not all of that usage has been positive.

Kraus is another player who, after sitting out the first game, has seen his role on the team – and his effectiveness in doing it, for the most part – climb. Other than a rough outing against Fairfield (five turnovers), he’s been pretty much all positive.

It’s reasonable to expect that this growth will continue not just through the remainder of this season, but continue into next year. Since all these players are freshmen, that’s where the biggest upside lies.

Paxton Moore

Moore is steadily gaining.

Moore is steadily gaining.

The defensive players aren’t going to score big overall numbers like the offensive players (and they’re more susceptible to my drawing stupid conclusions based on small sample sizes), but Moore’s chart can tell us a little bit.

Although he’s played in every game, the LSM didn’t notch anything in the first three games. Since then, you could argue that maybe he’s grown a little more comfortable, or maybe just that there’s more opportunity for a significant role due to the injuries that have plagued the U-M D, but he’s stepped up, either way. He won’t be a key player this year, but his growth bodes well for years into the future. Closing the gap between blue and yellow (minimizing turnovers and penalties committed) will be the next big phase for him, though he’s only had two bad games from that perspective.

Charlie Keady

Charlie Keady

Keady’s numbers against Penn State and Johns Hopkins are pretty much irrelevant.

This graph is misleading as a pure defensive player, since Keady – especially in the first game when Lott was unavailable, and Hopkins when all faceoff specialists were ineffective against Unstoppable Faceoff God Mike Poppleton – has moonlighted as a faceoff specialist. While he’s done an OK job in that role, it’s not his long-term future in Ann Arbor. He’s also not expected to do a whole lot of winning those faceoffs (he’s out there to muck things up, create a 5-/5- GB, and play defense).

Keady has had inconsistent usage throughout the year, and quite a few negatives on the resume. Gaining more experience – and the ability to focus on his defensive duties, rather than a substitute FOGO role – should help him improve going forward.

Chase Brown

Brown has had his share of ups and downs.

Brown has had his share of ups and downs.

Like Keady, Brown has seen some of his stats artificially deflated by playing a but on faceoffs. He’s also, however, had his serious share of ups and downs. Part of that is simply the nature of the position (find me an LSM or a D without and turnovers or penalties committed, and again some of it is growing pains.

It’s very encouraging that he’s had two of his best games in the two most recent. As with every other young player, you assume he’s only going to get better.

Dan Kinek

Invisible against Bellarmine, poor against High Point, but great every other outing.

Invisible against Bellarmine, poor against High Point, but great every other outing.

Kinek, for my money (of which there is none), is the most interesting case on the team. I don’t mean that he’s an exciting player when it comes to watching the games, or that he’s always in the mix of the action.

Rather, defensive midfielders are at a huge premium in the college game – maybe slightly less so with the no-horn rules and quick restarts, but still important – and Michigan’s been looking for some guys who can play that position since game one last year. Kinek seems to be performing well, and learning fast. Quint Kessenich mentioned on the Colgate broadcast that a two-way role is in Kinek’s future, and there’s no reason to doubt that given how quickly he’s coming along.

As noted several times throughout this article, don’t put too much stock in the positive/negative correlations, it’s just an interesting (to me, at least) if facile look at how much guys are contributing and the nature of those contributions.

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Scores and Schedule: March 21, 2013

Several games canceled/postponed yesterday, so don’t be surprised (with it not much warmer) if that happens again today.

Yesterday’s Results

Division-3 Men

Calvin 0, Augustana 20

Division-3 Women

Albion @ Siena Heights – postponed
Hope 3, Stevenson 19

MCLA-1

Michigan State 16, Toledo 3

High School Boys

Detroit Country Day 13, Warren De La Salle 5
Temperance Bedford 7, Ypsilanti Lincoln 5
Plymouth @ Ann Arbor Skyline – postponed
DeWitt @ Forest Hills Central – postponed
Hartland @ Tecumseh – postponed
Madison Heights Bishop Foley @ Walled Lake Northern – postponed
Grand Rapids Christian v. Mattawan  – canceled
Holland @ Portage Northern
Dearborn Divine Child @ Romulus
Battle Creek Lakeview @ Battle Creek Harper Creek

High School Girls

Ann Arbor Huron @ Temperance Bedford
Portage Northern @ Caledonia
Salem @ Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard
Forest Hills United @ Grand Rapids Christian
Grand Haven @ Holt
Ann Arbor Skyline @ Livonia Ladywood
Warren Regina @ Lake Orion
Walled Lake United @ West Bloomfield
Grandville @ Holland West Ottawa

Today’s Schedule

Division-3 Men

Hope @ UW-Milwaukee, 7 p.m. Central

High School Boys

Vicksburg @ Battle Creek Harper Creek
Warren Mott @ Madison Heights Bishop Foley
Lake Orion @ Brother Rice Orange
Brighton @ Detroit Catholic Central
Grand Rapids South Christian @ Caledonia
Birmingham Seaholm @ Canton
Zeeland @ Grand Haven
Swartz Creek @ Grand Blanc
Haslett-Williamston v. Mattawan
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer @ Northview
Salem @ Orchard Lake St. Mary’s
West Bloomfield @ Plymouth
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep @ Rochester Adams
Davison @ Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
North-Harrison @ Troy Athens
L’Anse Creuse North @ Troy
Grosse Pointe North @ Warren Cousino

High School Girls

Lansing Waverly @ East Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids Catholic Central @ Williamston-Haslett
Detroit Country Day @ Farmington Hills Harrison
Swartz Creek @ Flint Powers
Bloomfield Hills Marian @ South Lyon United

Corrections, omissions, etc. always appreciated in the comments.

Posted in division 3, high school, mcla | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Scores and Schedule: March 21, 2013

Scores and Schedule: March 20, 2013

High school is hereeeeeeeee… Of course, a lot of these games have been (or will be) postponed or canceled, so keep an ear out.

Yesterday’s Results

Division-3 Women

Calvin 5, Randolph-Macon 18

Today’s Schedule

Division-3 Men

Albion v. DePauw
Alma v. Bethany
Calvin @ Augustana

Division-3 Women

Albion @ Siena Heights
Hope @ Stevenson

MCLA-1

Michigan State @ Toledo, 8 p.m.

High School Boys

Plymouth @ Ann Arbor Skyline
Battle Creek Lakeview @ Battle Creek Harper Creek
Warren De La Salle @ Detroit Country Day
DeWitt @ Forest Hills Central
Hudsonville @ Holland West Ottawa
Grand Rapids Christian v. Mattawan
Holland @ Portage Northern
Dearborn Divine Child @ Romulus
Hartland @ Tecumseh
Brighton @ Utica Eisenhower
Madison Heights Bishop Foley @ Walled Lake Northern
Grosse Ile @ Walled Lake Western

High School Girls

Ann Arbor Huron @ Temperance Bedford
Portage Northern @ Caledonia
Salem @ Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard
Forest Hills United @ Grand Rapids Christian
Grand Haven @ Holt
Ann Arbor Skyline @ Livonia Ladywood
Warren Regina @ Lake Orion
Walled Lake United @ West Bloomfield
Grandville @ Holland West Ottawa

Corrections, omissions, etc. always appreciated in the comments.

Posted in division 3, high school, mcla | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Scores and Schedule: March 20, 2013

The Next Level: March 19, 2013

Our weekly look at Michigan natives who are playing college lacrosse at division-1 institutions this spring:

Air Force 7, Loyola 13

  • Junior attack Tommy McKee (Holt) – Scored a Goal on four Shots, added an assist, and picked up one GB. Also committed three turnovers.

Detroit 8, Marist 11

  • Sophomore attack Brandon Beauregard (Notre Dame Prep) – Took one Shot and picked up three ground balls. Also committed three turnovers.
  • Sophomore midfielder Mike Birney (Detroit Catholic Central) – Started and scored two Goals on four Shots while adding an Assist. Also committed four turnovers.
  • Senior midfielder Tyler Corcoran (South Lyon) – Won 1/8 faceoffs.
  • Senior midfielder Brandon Davenport (Grosse Pointe North) – Won his only faceoff attempt and picked up two ground balls, and took a shot.
  • Sophomore midfielder Scott Drummond (Birmingham Seaholm) – Started and contributed an Assist, while taking three Shots and picking up two GBs.
  • Senior defenseman John Dwyer (Detroit Catholic Central) – Started and picked up four ground balls. Also committed two turnovers.
  • Junior midfielder Nick Garippa (Notre Dame Prep) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.
  • Freshman midfielder Andy Hebden (Brother Rice) – Started, scored a Goal on four Shots, added an Assist, and picked up on ground ball. Also committed two turnovers.
  • Senior defenseman Jamie Hebden (Brother Rice) – Started, caused two turnovers, and picked up one ground ball. Also committed one turnoevr and one penalty for 1:00.
  • Senior LSM/D Andrew Khalil (Warren De La Salle) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.
  • Junior midfielder Joe MacLean (Detroit Country Day) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.
  • Freshman attack Nick Melucci (Northville) – Started, scored a Goal on his only Shot, added an assist, caused a turnover, and picked up two ground balls. Also committed a turnover.
  • Senior midfielder Chris Nemes (Detroit Catholic Central) – Took one Shot and picked up one GB. Also committed three turnovers.
  • Junior midfielder Tim Robertson (Notre Same Prep) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.
  • Sophomore midfielder Tom Sible (Forest Hills Central) – Scored a Goal on his only Shot.
  • Freshman defenseman Jordan Yono (Detroit Catholic Central) – Picked up two ground balls.

Georgetown 6, Mount St. Mary’s 14

  • Junior midfielder Grant Fisher (Brother Rice) – Took one Shot on goal.

Georgetown 16, Providence 8

  • Junior midfielder Grant Fisher (Brother Rice) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.

Hofstra 10, Delaware 5

  • Senior defenseman Michael Hamilton (Brother Rice) – Started and picked up two ground balls.

Marquette 14, Mercer 11

  • Freshman attack Henry Nelson (Brother Rice) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.

Marquette 7, St. Joseph’s 12

  • Redshirt freshman midfielder K.C. Kennedy (Brother Rice) – Lost his only faceoff attempt.
  • Freshman attack Henry Nelson (Brother Rice) – played, but did not accrue any statistics.

Michigan 8, Fairfield 10

  • Senior midfielder Zach Dauch (Bloomfield Hills Lahser) – Picked up one ground ball.
  • Sophomore defenseman Mack Gembis (Cranbrook) – Started, but did not accrue any statistics.
  • Senior defenseman Rob Healy (Notre Dame Prep) – Started, caused two turnovers, and picked up one ground ball. Also committed two turnovers and one penalty for 1:00.
  • Freshman attack Riley Kennedy (Brother Rice) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.
  • Sophomore attack Will Meter (Brother Rice) – Scored a Goal on ten Shots(!), seven of them on goal, caused one turnover and picked up one ground ball. Also committed one turnover.
  • Junior LSM Dakota Sherman (Cranbrook) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.

Michigan 7, Colgate 10

  • Senior midfielder Zach Dauch (Bloomfield Hills Lahser) – Took one Shot on goal.
  • Sophomore defenseman Mack Gembis (Cranbrook) – Started, but did not accrue any statistics.
  • Senior defenseman Rob Healy (Notre Dame Prep) – Started, caused one turnover, and picked up one ground ball.
  • Sophomore attack Will Meter (Brother Rice) – Started, score two Goals on four Shots (three on goal), added two assists, and picked up one ground ball.
  • Junior LSM Dakota Sherman (Cranbrook) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.

Mount St. Mary’s 14, Georgetown 6

  • Senior midfielder Conor Carey (University of Detroit Jesuit) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.
  • Senior midfielder Jon Marsalese (University of Detroit Jesuit) – Won 12/23 faceoffs, picking up eight ground balls, and caused one turnover.

Mount St. Mary’s 11, Drexel 14

  • Senior midfielder Jon Marsalese (University of Detroit Jesuit) – Won 14/28 faceoffs, picking up nine ground balls. Also committed two turnovers.

Penn State 7, UMass 5

  • Senior Attack Nick Dolik (Brother Rice) – Scored a Goal on seven Shots.
  • Senior midfielder Danny Henneghan (Brother Rice) – Started and won 7/16 faceoffs, picking up three ground balls, and took one Shot.

Rutgers 13, St. John’s 20

  • Freshman midfielder Jacob Coretti (East Grand Rapids) – Started, took two Shots, and caused one turnover. Also committed one turnover.

As always, feel free to share corrections, additions, or stats from other divisions in the comments.

Posted in division 1 | Tagged | 1 Comment

Scores and Schedule: March 19, 2013

Split results for Hope teams yesterday… and we’re just one day away from high school facing off in earnest.

Yesterday’s Results

Division-3 Men

Hope 22, Wilmington 4

Division-3 Women

Hope 0, Shenandoah 15

Today’s Schedule

Division-3 Men

Adrian v. Clarkson

Division-3 Women

Calvin @ Randolph-Macon

Corrections, omissions, etc. always appreciated in the comments.

Posted in division 3 | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Scores and Schedule: March 19, 2013

Michigan 7, Colgate 10

Michigan has played above their collective head in three straight games… does that just mean they’re a lot better by this point? That seems to be the case. There will surely be hiccups down the road, but this young team has grown up a lot during Year Two.

Tempo Free

From the official box score, a look at the tempo-free stats:

Colgate 2013
Colgate Michigan
Faceoff Wins 9 Faceoff Wins 13
Clearing 18-23 Clearing 17-17
Possessions 32 Possessions 35
Goals 10 Goals 7
Offensive Efficiency .313 Offensive Efficiency .200

I was expecting a fast-paced game, but that didn’t come to fruition. I was also expecting a pretty good faceoff specialist from Colgate to perform well, but Michigan was more than adequate there. Michigan also cleared as well as possible, while riding Colgate into some turnovers to win the possession game.

It’s what happened in those possessions that ultimately decided the contest, but it’s going to be expected – especially against a really good team like Colgate – that Michigan’s efficiencies aren’t going to stack up favorably very often. Keeping it close on the margins will be the move for Michigan until they play a couple other weak teams.

They did that in this one, and held down a Colgate team that had really good matchups on them. That’s encouraging.

Notes

I’m going to repeat this with each loss: There are no moral victories at this level. A loss is a loss. It would be unfair, however, to not note that a loss like this – staying competitive through four quarters against a very good team – still give hope for the future that victories of the actual variety might be on the way.

The story has been a fairly consistent one for Michigan in losses this year: play pretty close with an opponent through the first quarter, then things slowly unravel until recovering to play even at the end of the game, as well. This one looked like it might follow a similar script when the Wolverines took a three-goal deficit into halftime after a 4-1 run by Colgate, but U-M buckled down and didn’t let a potent Raiders team get much more separation. That’s progress.

A lot of the strides that were made came from the possession game. Brad Lott had an excellent performance against a good faceoff unit. He’s now over .500 on the year, and though the team as a whole didn’t cross that mark on this road trip (as I’d predicted), there is clearly improvement there. Another place that saw improvement? The clear. After a few serious struggle games, they rebounded for a perfect performance against a strong ride. Again, that’s progress.

Only five Wolverines got in the scoring column (and oddly, everyone who notched any points had at least one goal – no feeders in this one). Will Meter seems to be approaching full health after being in and out of the lineup earlier this season – he had four points on two goals and two assists. Mike Hernandez had a goal and an assist. Beyond that, Kyle Jackson’s two goals made him the only other multi-point scorer. Peter Kraus and Davis Joseph added a single goal each.

One thing that I’ve criticized in recent Michigan games has been the volume shooting that some of the Wolverines’ offensive weapons are doing. David Joseph took ten shots, only four of them on the cage to get his single goal. Four of Kyle Jackson’s seven shots were on goal, two of Mike Hernandez’s six were, as were two of Peter Kraus’ five. Some of that is necessity – this team doesn’t have enough weapons to always get a good look, so the lacrosse equivalent of basketball’s “chuck it up and pray” comes into effect from time to time. It must be noted that every player I just listed is in his first year on the field, so increasing the comfort in the offense and at the D-1 level (and seeing some weaker defenses) will be a big boost. One caveat – the backup nature of the game of lacrosse often means inaccurate shots aren’t such a bad thing. Still, you’d rather find cage (particularly, netting) when you shoot; the purpose of a shot is not to reset your possession, except in low-clock situations.

The other bugaboo for some of Michigan’s midfielders this season has been turning the ball over. The clear was perfect, so the transition turnovers weren’t a killer (an improvement over the High Point game), but Hernandez did cough it up three times. Kraus, David Joseph, and Mike Francia each had two. That’s not killer, and even an improvement over the past couple weeks, but combined with low-accuracy volume shooting, it’s an area where just a bit of improvement can make a huge impact on the team’s efficiency.

Gerald Logan had a mediocre game statistically, saving only .474 of shots faced. However, against a talented offensive squad like Colgate, that’s not so bad. Given some of the looks the Raiders got, his performance is excused, in my mind. It is notable that he only faced 19 shots, which is normally a good half of work for him. The defense improved in this one, if only by forcing Colgate to slow down and minimize possessions.

Michigan forced only five turnovers in this one, so there were few standouts from a statistical perspective. Freshman LSM Chase Brown picked up four ground balls to lead the team, and SSDM Dan Kinek had three, but that came from their wing play on faceoffs as much as anything.

Peter Baum had three goals and two assists, while Ryan Walsh had three and one. Michigan mostly shut down Walsh after he had already notched a hat trick by halftime. Clearly, coaching adjustments came into play to a degree. With Michigan’s talent deficiencies, slowing things down with adjustments can be considered a win at times.

Elsewhere

The official boxscore. Michigan recap and postgame notes. Photo gallery. Colgate recap and photo gallery. The Greenwich Times talks about the Connecticut-based players who participated. Inside Lacrosse On The Scene.

You can re-watch the whole dang thing on ESPN3.com.

Up Next

The tough road swing is over, and five of the final seven contests this year will take place in the comfort of Michigan Stadium. The first game back is no cakewalk, however. Defending national champion Loyola isn’t last year’s juggernaut, but the Hounds are still more talented than the Wolverines.

Will U-M continue to build on the lessons learned on the long trip away from home? If so, they can give Loyola a bit of a run. A win, however, looks like it’s out of the question unless just about everything that can go right does so.

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